Man in Black/Old William/The Riddle of the Sphinx
The Man in Black and Lawrence notice a horse with a saddle but no rider, and come across a group of Chinese railroad workers using guests as railroad ties. The Man in Black notices that the railroad is heading north instead of west, to which Lawrence replies they're pointed in the direction of Las Mudas. The Man in Black interrupts, saying he already knows Lawrence has family there. Arriving in Las Mudas, they find the town completely abandoned, save for a bartender who serves them whiskey when they sit down at a table. Noticing the bartender's nervous shaking, they are soon ambushed by several Confederados led by Major Craddock, who has taken the town hostage in a nearby church, demanding their weapons and killing several of them. Lawrence, somehow recalling from a previous loop that the Man in Black has a daughter, tells him where the weapons cache is, claiming neither of them would want their daughter to see her father die, which the Man in Black expresses some doubts over. He then reveals to Craddock where the weapons are, asking for a deal. In the past, mere days before the host uprising, the Man in Black meets with the host James Delos in his fake apartment: Delos quickly surmises his status upon noticing William's age. As Delos begins malfunctioning again after learning who he is, the Man in Black explains that the technicians still have not fixed this problem, but in truth he no longer feels keeping Delos immortal was a good idea, as he has since realized Delos was a horrible man in life and deserved to die long ago. He reveals to an increasingly unstable Delos that Juliet killed herself the year before and Logan overdosed many years ago. He then leaves Delos in his apartment, telling a technician to let him keep running in his malfunctioning state. As it rains in Las Mudas, Craddock has his men beat up Lawrence while telling an increasingly impatient Man in Black about his quest for Glory. He then has Lawrence's Wife carry a shotglass full of nitroglycerin to Lawrence, going on to say that because he has died and come back, he is therefore immortal. Recalling James Delos's situation and having a flashback to finding his wife dead in the bathtub, the Man in Black declares that death needs to be final before stabbing Craddock and killing his soldiers. He then retrieves the shotglass from Lawrence's Wife before forcing Craddock to drink it and giving a gun to Lawrence, who shoots and blows up Craddock without hesitation. In the morning, Lawrence offers his cousins' help in the Man in Black's quest, though he warns him they may not all make it back. Lawrence's Daughter approaches him and warns him she remembers what he did to them previously and that one good deed will not redeem him. The Man in Black rejects that he was doing a good deed, telling her that he is simply playing Ford's game. She replies in Ford's words that he is playing the game wrong: "...you still don't understand the real game we're playing here. If you're looking forward, you're looking in the wrong direction." She then walks off. Thinking about these words, the Man in Black gets on his horse and leaves, Lawrence and his cousins following. As they cross the fields, they come across a woman approaching them on horseback, who rides up to the Man in Black and simply says, "Hi, Dad." Category:Tabview Character Plot